In the art of pre-shrinking textile materials, it is known to pass the material to be treated between a pair of endless belts, commonly referred to as blankets. The blankets are typically constructed of rubber or rubber-like material, with each such blanket being guided by a plurality of rollers. Means are employed to properly tension the blankets such that the blankets compress the fibers of the textile material passing therebetween toward one another to thereby pre-shrink the textile material and thus diminish possible shrinkage which might otherwise occur during subsequent washing. One such process known in the industry which employs such apparatus is known as the Sanforizing process.
As in other processes involving the handling of textile materials, it would normally be desirable in handling materials being processed by a compressor to pre-dry the fabric (to eliminate unknown amounts of moisture accumulated during previous handling and storage of the material) and then add predetermined and uniform moisture prior to passing the material into the compressor. Typical pre-drying schemes employ a series of conventional drying rollers, known as drying cans, about which the material passes before being further processed. Unfortunately, when the material passes around such drying cans, the material is subjected to unwanted tension which has the effect of stretching the fibers in imprecise and uncontrollable amounts thereby deleteriously affecting the ability of the compressor to precisely pre-shrink the material by controlling the fiber spacing. This problem is especially acute with today's popular knit materials.
Another problem experienced with compressing apparatus for textiles and related to control of the tension of the material passing therethrough, stems from the desirability, from an increased production point of view, of processing more than one stand of web-like material through the compressor simultaneously. Unfortunately, since different materials have been knit or woven with different degrees of tightness, it is not possible to have a single compressor process two different materials and end up with the proper degree of pre-shrinkage for each.
Another problem encountered relates to the problem of applying uniform moisture without the undesirable accumulation of water droplets which is frequently encountered.